Search This Blog

Gender Inequality and 'Star Trek Into Darkness'

J.J Abrams has gotten himself in a bit of hot water as of late, the director received criticism for a scene of Alice Eve in her underwear for, what most argued, absolutely no reason. Appearing on Conan last night to defend himself, Abrams argues that
there was such reason for Eve to be stripping during the scene: her stripping during her defusal of a weapon
was meant to "provide a break in the middle of all this action and
adventure,”* he said, and to "reinforce the idea of Captain Kirk as a
ladies’ man"* (if anyone ever needed reminding that Kirk is a ladies' man, than they weren't watching the movie).

Abrams later contended that Chris Pine appears in a state of undress as well, but given that this appearance is post-love scene, that makes sense. If that line of reasoning didn't appeal to critics, then he played a deleted scene of Benedict Cumberbatch showering. While placing that scene in the film may have eased some qualms that Eve was objectified, Cumberbatch's deleted scene was just that, deleted.

Still, the point remains that thematically, Cumberbatch being naked would make sense given he is showering. What is the point of Eve undressing during her conversation?

Gratuitous displays of skin appear frequently in another big franchises like James Bond and comic book films, but the difference is, if Abrams is going to play the gratuitous skin card, he should do so with both sexes. Daniel Craig is on the screen shirtless maybe more than anyone (007's famous scene emerging from the water will attest to that).

More importantly, those films had female characters that were better written. Skyfall had Judi Dench's character defining performance as Mand The Avengers managed to avoid demeaning any of the female characters at all during its runtime. Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson) managed her own in combat and didn't have to strip to her undies when she interrogated Loki (Tom Hiddleston). That is the difference between what Sam Mendes and Joss Whedon did, and what Abrams did not.

All clothing issues aside, the real problem with this debate is that the prominent female characters of Into Darkness are reduced to their feelings about the male characters, or their anatomy. Uhura's (Zoe Saldana) sole motivation throughout the film is to pine for Spock and that is it. For one of the strongest female characters in pop culture to be defined solely through her affections for a man is misrepresenting Uhura in her entirety.

In a series that has long promoted equality for all races and genders, this point is hardest to stomach. It has been almost fifty years since the Enterprise lifted off, where is the progress in movies now? Will the next mission on the Enterprise feature some female roles with depth?

Having Ms. Eve strip down for essentially no reason is only a symptom of the larger problem that populates films: women are under-written. Benedict Cumberbatch showering can't make up for that.* Meredith Blake May. "J.J. Abrams to Critics: Here's Benedict Cumberbatch in the Shower!" Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 23 May 2013. Web. 23 May 2013.

Popular posts from this blog

Weird is rarely used as a good quality in film criticism, but few words so completely describe Charlie Kaufman’s work as weird does. All of his films are a window into his very particular worldview, and that p.o.v. is certainly unlike anything seen in pop culture. For that reason, Anomalisa became an entry on many most anticipated lists for 2015. That Kaufman chose stop-motion to tell this story made the picture an event. So it came as a disappointment when the film was one of the year’s more mundane efforts.

Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind have an energy and heart at the center that is not present here. Previous collaborators like Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry were able to temper the overwhelming negativity Charlie Kaufman occasionally falls prey to, but, this time, the writer doesn’t have a director to rein things in. In all of his efforts to create an experience that is both familiar and alienating, Kaufman may have accidentally created something host…

It may surprise many that Martin Luther King Jr. never received the celluloid treatment prior to Selma. Sure he had been mentioned in other historical pieces, but short of documentary footage, King was never given center stage. Quite shocking given the man's legacy and the lingering effect of his efforts still felt today. Several years of production and a director change later, Selma arrives as the film worthy of the man.

Westerns have never recovered from the oversaturation that killed off viewer interest decades ago, but every now and then a gem pops up. Recent successes like The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, 2007’s 3:10 to Yuma and the Coen brothers adaptation of True Grit all did well because they tweaked the genre slightly, but director Kristian Levring goes with an old school approach. A faithful recreation of those revenge Westerns made so popular in the 1970s, The Salvation envelopes many elements of previous Clint Eastwood classics and wraps it into a tidy package.

The Salvation starts in on the central dilemma, joining Jon (Hannibal‘s Mad Mikkelsen) at the train station where he awaits the arrival of his wife and son. Jon and his brother, Peter (Mikael Persbrandt), have lived in the United States long enough to build a hospitable life for their family back in Denmark. This homecoming should be a sweet moment to establish the family important to Jon, but fate plays out…